Andrew Curry’s Search for the Ephemeral

Cherry trees in bloom, a thick fog enveloping the treetops, the warm hues of neon lights reflected in the damp pavement after the rain… Andrew Curry wanders up and down arteries in Japan in search of snapshots to capture through his lens. 

‘物 の 哀 れ, mono no aware, which means a sensitivity to ephemera, is one of my favourite Japanese concepts’, the photographer explains in an interview with Pen. He reveals that he first embarked upon this search for the ephemeral after reading Leonard Koren’s book on wabi-sabi, citing in particular the following poem by Fujiwara no Teika, a 12th-century Japanese poet: 

All around, no flowers in bloom

Nor maple leaves in glare

A solitary fisherman’s hut alone

On the twilight shore

Of this autumn eve 

Having long been attracted by Japanese aesthetics, particularly its arts and the study of Zen Buddhism, he finally decided to leave Florida for Japan in 2014 to work as a photographer. Since then, he has worked on campaigns for brands like Apple and Levi’s, while also working as a photojournalist for the Japan Times and Asia Photographed. 

Immortalising intangible impressions

‘I like the challenge of finding visual equivalents for Fujiwara’s poem. I think that chaotic environments offer unique opportunities to capture and absorb calm, considered moments that exist on the boundary of nothingness, between action and inaction. These are the moments I seek to encapsulate in my work’, Andrew Curry explains.

Although the photographer travels all over Japan, he has a preference for the capital city, which, he believes, accumulates the changes in Japanese society over time. ‘Japan is known for its respect for impermanence and its acceptance of the inevitable. My photography aims to capture these intangible impressions, to connect others to this stratified, complex city’, the photographer concludes. This photographic work is like that of an urban surveyor, and is reminiscent of the work of photographer Emily Shur, who has been travelling around the country to witness its transformations for twelve years.

mono no aware (2014-), a series of photographs by Andrew Curry, can be viewed on his website.